Standing on top of props

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bradporeda
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:38 pm

Standing on top of props

Post by bradporeda »

Just wondering how I can get a performer to be on a prop.

More and more shows use props for mini-stages.

Since props are just a 3D shape (HxWxD), it would seem like it would be easy to get performers to be on top of a prop.

Thoughts?
-Brad
William
Posts: 620
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
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Re: Standing on top of props

Post by William »

Hi Brad,

Allowing performers to move in the vertical axis isn't too difficult on its own, but that does open a lot of other potential problems. Problems such as:
- Does this need to be represented on drill charts or dot sheets?
- What kind of animation should you use when moving up or down? Will it look okay without animations?
- What is the best way to expose this functionality to the user? Will it affect current functionality?

At the simplest we could add a specific mechanism for moving up or down and simply ignore the other questions. This would result in some strange looking results if a performer is marching while moving up in the air. So we have to consider will the end result be worth this inclusion? I think the answer is probably yes to that.. As a professional designer you might be willing to put up with some interesting transitional behaviour to get the look of performers at different heights.

So I will add it to the requested feature list in its simplest form. However the end goal should always be complete realism, which means adding animation capabilities for all sorts of up and down movement. Something like that is probably a long way off however.

Thank you for the suggestion!
Have a great day!
William Lee
-----------------
CEO
Box5 Software
https://box5software.com
bradporeda
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:38 pm

Re: Standing on top of props

Post by bradporeda »

William,

Wow! Very deep and insightful thoughts regard the implementation and realism parts of this. Thanks.

You're right. The simplest version of this would to have the marcher "pop up" to top surface of a prop as s/he encounters it. (i.e. occupies the same space as the prop), and pops down to field level as s/he is moved off of it. This would look a bit jarring, but I think the designers and director would understand and would appreciate seeing the marchers in perspective.

The more we look at BOA/DCI etc... shows, the more we see simple risers, ramps, platforms, cakes, mountains, ..... used for performer highlighting, focus, and storytelling. And as these props are moved around the field, these "stages" are an integral parts of the design process.

Since Envision already prints the surface of the prop on the charts, the marcher's symbol should then always be on top of it for clarity. Perhaps have an option where props are printed with a dotted outline and light or no fill color too.

Thanks for doing whatever you can with this idea. -brad

p.s. This brings up a related issue which I'll post as a separate topic: Props of different shapes (circles, stars, etc...)
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